As you may have noticed by the weird fluctuations in link colors and other details today, we’ve been tinkering under the hood of our website. Hundreds and hundreds of lines of Pascal, APL and Logo are being tweaked and modified to improve every ounce of performance we can squeeze from our server farm of over 183 Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computers arrayed in a Token-Ring network. New features like Night Panel have been added, as well as one that you may have seen, but aren’t yet familiar with: the Glovebox.
Yes, the Glovebox! What the hell can that possibly mean in the context of a website? Great question. A question a child might ask, even, but not a childish question.
I suppose it may be useful to think of the Glovebox feature in terms of an actual car glovebox, or glove compartment, or hand-pants-cubby, or whatever you call it. The glovebox, as you may have guessed, did literally start as a place to stash your driving gloves in your car, so they’d be right there when you needed them.
Remember, back in the early days of motoring, there was a lot more specialized equipment and protective wear. Cars tended to be open, so you’d have to clad yourself in weather-tolerant gear, like big hats and thick, long overcoats, and, yes, rugged but comfortable driving gloves, usually made of leather or similar materials, like calfskin or bat hides. Early cars had runningboard-mounted toolboxes and trunks where your driving gear could be stashed, but those weren’t terribly convenient. Some cubby on the inside where smaller protective gear, like gloves, could be stashed would be ideal. Hence, the glove compartment was born.
Early 1900s Packards or Pierce-Arrows are usually credited with having the first dashboard-integrated gloveboxes, and the actual term “glove compartment” seems to have been coined by Dorthy Levitt, in her book The Woman and the Car in 1919.
Here’s what an early glovebox looked like on a 1915 Pierce-Arrow Model 48-B-3:
I think that’s pretty familiar to all of us still today, even if a side-hinged glovebox is something of a rarity in the modern era.
Of course, today, our gloveboxes tend to be filled with almost anything but gloves, mostly documents and papers and some fuses and bulbs and expired things of all varieties (snacks, medications, condoms, court summons) and I suppose our virtual glovebox is closer to that. You see, in the context of the Autopian site, the Glovebox is a place for you to store your favorite posts, or posts that you want to be able to refer to and find easily.
The Glovebox screen looks like this:
There’s the banner up top, with the glovebox from my own 1973 Volkswagen Beetle making a cameo, crammed full of stuff, and then below it are articles you’ve chosen to store in there. These are, of course, unique for every user, and you can have – as far as I know? – as many posts in there as you’d like.
You can use this for all-time favorites or just stick in the stories you mean to get back to each week, and empty it out regularly. It’s up to you.
To add a story to the Glovebox, just click the Add To Glovebox button seen at the top or bottom of the post, and to see the Glovebox itself, just click where it says “glovebox” on the top menu bar:
Now, this is just the first pass at the Glovebox; I’m already thinking about ways we can make this a place where you can store all kinds of car-related stuff you need, in one easy-to-access place from your computer, phone, VR headset, game console, whatever. Maybe we can figure out ways you can, say, keep your car to-do lists here, or have easy access to car part or tool buying through here, or your fleet list and status, or whatever sorts of notes you may want.
I’m open to listening to you, and hearing what you may like from your Glovebox! We’re just getting started, and I can’t exactly say what’s possible and what isn’t just yet, but I don’t think there’s any harm in throwing out some ideas! Maybe Advanced Gloveboxery will be a member perk?
Point is, I’m open to listen. Why not give the Glovebox a try and see what you think?
Which membership tier gets the built in humidor?
Great idea. This is something that I hear a lot of people wishing they had on other sites.
What would happen if I click on “Add to Glovebox” on this article? Will the Autopian implode and collapse in itself?? I’m almost afraid to try….
Good idea, though. It will be much better than all of the Chipotle napkins I currently have stuffed in my glovebox.
Actual directions for use would be great. I entered it found mine was empty and offered to empty it but not sure how to save anything
I added the night mode post to my glovebox because having had Contra on the NES only my finger muscle memory remembers it right.
Sweet! I’ve been putting favorite articles in my Pocket account; this is much more convenient.
I think there’s a pair of Polar Fleece gloves in the glovebox of the ’21 Wrangler; all of the other Jeeps have gloves in the center console.
You may take our freedom, but you’ll never take the 87 tabs i have open that i will most definitely go back to and read at some point maybe!
This is a timely addition as I was recently looking for David’s article on the wobbly gm truck steering column and could not find an efficient way to search for it.
I did end up finding the article and also figured out my Suburban was suffering from a different issue.
This is cool. Thank you.
Had a friend growing up whose family was right out of Leave It To Beaver. His Mom would serve us juice and home baked cookies when we played video games. She served dinner promptly at 5:30 weeknights, 5 pm on weekends (not sure why the difference.) We were driving her car one day (a 67 4 door Dart) and I what did I find in the glovebox? Gloves!
So, in honor of Ken’s Mom, I will put this article on gloves in the glovebox where it belongs.
It’s a lot of Bishop renders and holy grail articles
What’s in the box? dot gif
This is ridiculous! I should not have to open a screen, dig through a menu to open the glovebox! I want a mechanical latch added to my phone and laptop so I can access it directly!
If this is the future of the site, I want out
Yes, for shame! This concept of a software-defined website is a bad one, it can’t last.
This is a good point. What was wrong with the old latch system glove box. Why did that need to be reinvented?
You 100% should try to tie in Galpin or Xpel or Copart to make the glove box some kind of car/car part marketplace to stick it to Facebook. Maybe if you’re lucky, that takes off and you can use that to help fund the Autopian (tying back to Hardigree’s post yesterday that most financial models nowadays suck)
Oh yes!
This implies the existence of a physical Autopian newsletter in the glovebox. Hmm….
I appreciate new features, very cool! That said, I would appreciate a way to toggle the button for my account. It takes up quiet a bit of space on both ends of the articles
Re the Hansen Glove Company ad:
This is statement is more a question-raiser than an information-giver. What the Hudson are you talking about? Is there no place for the indignant hand?
Of course foreign Lambs produce superior Fur. Domestic Lamb Fur? Pish-pish! Those with dignified hands know this. But wombats‽ Far too cute to use for fur, plus one must admire the inherent dignity of an animal that drops its poo in the form of neat cubes.
Wanted to make a Kate Hudson joke here.
Will refrain for obvious reasons.
Since it’s based on a Beetle glovebox, is there an option to take out the divider and have it be one contiguous space with the frunk?
I truly did not expect to have the wonderful lesson on the history of gloveboxes! I guess that’s why you guys write and I’m an accountant.
My Saab 9-5 had an HVAC vent in the glovebox to keep things cool. Can you integrate that feature?
I used Logo at my school! We couldn’t afford the turtle though.
The glovebox in my GR Corolla is 77.3% filled with a big leather (maybe? probably vinyl) portfolio-thing with owner manuals. Half the reason I added a 3rd party center console was for a bit of storage.
Maybe different quality glove boxes for different tiers? My Chevy Beretta had basically a shallow plastic tray on guides, but some Mercedes and Acura ones have better finishing on theirs than the seats of some cars.
I was so disappointed when Lexol discontinued their Bat Hide Conditioner product. Now I am forced to capture and milk mosquitos by hand to keep my vintage Bat Hide Driving Gloves supple.
Bat Hide was really the Merino Wool of its day, useful in so many scenarios and allowing drivers to have just a single pair of gloves for any situation. Water resistant, insulating, odor fighting, but also wicking and cooling. Really a marvel of textile technology. So sad that people caught rabies from wearing them and they disappeared from popular use.
I’d like an auto-stuffing feature, where all posts go, and remove as I read them. Like my Email Inbox?
That way I can judge my Autopian usage by the size of my glovebox count?
Having actually used it now, I think adding the link to the main page along with the article page would be helpful.
I only know one guy with bat gloves. And I doubt he stores them in the dash.
I’m absolutely willing to believe the ’60 tv show version had one, labeled as such even. “Holy Haberdashery!”
Ha! I was thinking I’ve never seen ANY Bat-fingers, but sure enough, you’re absolutely right: it’s no less than the first item on the list!